I couldn't believe my eyes when i saw people flying through the air for the first time but i soon realised that these people are actually throwing themselves across the room, i know this from experience as when Sofos tried his chi stopping on me i had no option but to throw myself back, it was either that or he would have told me how crap i was and put me down almost every lesson (as he has done to many students who wouldn't throw themselves across the room to please him) Sofos scares students so much that they themselves start to believe that they are able to fly across the room when Sofos taps them. he puts ideas into their heads and i'm sure i'm not the only one who is acting

It seems his cultish students started flooding that crappy Ving Tsun forum with posts about how great their 'sijo' Sofos was. You notice how they didn't pull that crap with the Bullshido forum !!! Looks like he wanted to make money by selling a DVD that he made, so he & his students started flooding that forum in order to advertise it.But some wise-ass told them that he would buy the DVD himself then post it on all the world's filesharing sites for all to download for free.That put an almost instant stop to their endless flooding of that other forum!Good riddance!:icon_salu

It seems like Sofos has updated his website lately with new pictures.
I like the way Sofos uses Photoshop to alter the pictures on his website by copying & pasting his face into the pictures so that it appears that he has actually trained with famous people.
What a total con-artist & a twat!

He used to teach at my university (Imperial College, London). Until he was done for flashing that is, then his brother took over. This must be about 14-15 years ago but they had something about it in the student paper.

I'm replying to this thread because 10 years ago,
I had the extreme misfortune (ranks up there with first girlfriend break-up/drunken tranny encounters/erectile disfunction/syphilis etc.) to meet this man...'Grandmaster' Sid Sofos.

Or rather, I didn't really meet him because I left his crackpot looneytoon school
before I got the chance. Despite this, however, I do still feel that I met him.
Perhaps the fact that every single piece of wall in the school is covered with
pictures of him has something to do with it. That, or his aura managed to manifest
itself even while he was not there - similar to Star Wars, how when the jedis die you can still sense their presence.

Anyway, I really hope that when Grandmaster Sofos dies, neither myself - or anybody ellse for that matter - will still be able to feel him because basically people, everything which this thread and the other one (ultimate wing chun bullshido) says is true: the man is a complete nut who has managed to create a cult of peronality around him. In essence, a cult leader.

Like I said, I joined his school 10 years ago when I was living in London. And from the moment I set foot inside, I thought things were a little odd. It was like in a bad (or good) kung-fu movie when everytime the hero's name is mentioned, people just drop what they are doing and gasp in wide-eyed amazement - you know what I mean, the guy eating noodles drops them in his lap, the rice seller pours the stuff all over the counter etc.. His students would mention his name either in tones of hushed reverence usually reserved only for the Pope or Mother Teresa, or in rapturous seizures which semed to resemble orgasms.

EVERY SINGLE THING revolved around him, came back to him. ''GrandMaster Sofos says this, GrandMaster Sofos did this, Grandmaster Sofos can see the bad things you do, even when you think nobody is looking...on and on an on...

Classes were regularly interrupted to expound on the man's superhuman attributes. Executed a less than perfect chi-sau block? Well, when GrandMaster Sofos does chi-sau, he has to be careful not to use all his power or ellse he'll turn your arm to jelly. Not sure about the practicality of centre-line punching. Legend has it that Grandmaster Sofos came out of his mother's womb, centre-line punching...

One of the most memorable dialogues actually surrounded the delicate matter of the grandmaster's pronounced girth. Look, I don't know if this guy has lost some weight since, or discovered a stairclimber but when I was going to his school he looked decidely..well, fat! (actually resembled a pudgier, greasier, more smug looking Steven Seagall, if this is humanly possible). Anyway, even at the time, I noticed this was something which people began to pick up on, eg:

Me: Phil, I've been wondering mate, don't you think our Sifu looks kind of out of shape?
Phil: Aye, he looks like a fat bastard to me.
Me: What do you reckon Dave?
Dave: Yeah...umm... I mean, I dunno...I'm scared to say anything. Oh ****, I think they heard us, I think they're watching us right now!
Me: What are you talking about, mate??? Who's watching us???

Dave had a very nervous disposition. He stayed on after me and Phil left. I don't know what ever happened to him...

Anyway, on one occasion, we must have been talking about general fitness in the martial arts (before people realized this was important) and someone said something like 'yeah I mean, sifu is quite a big guy...but I guess a lot of that is muscle...'
I SWEAR TO GOD THE NEXT STATEMENT IS TRUE. One of the senior students fixed us with a stare from the bowels of hell before explaining that the reason why revered Grandmaster Sofos looked 'big' was because of 'the physical manifestation of his chi'.
Not that he enjoyed one too many pints in the pub, or one too many cream cakes...

Or one too many lines. Because basically guys, although I didn't know about it at the time, one of the most horrific pictures has emerged over the years; a picture of a mad, self-obssessed, self-styled GrandMaster who had an embarassing '90's cocaine habit', got done for indecent exposure while teaching classes at a university and who routinely weeded out his top students when they either didn't fit the bill, or started to question what the hell they had gotten into...To get an idea of some of the stuff you won't find in his fabulously insane website, just take a look at this: http://www.vingtsun.com.hk/FORUM/default.asp

As you can see, I haven't mentioned anything about the level/quality of the wing chun being taught there. To be honest, it's simply not my concern. The point is that - all jokes aside - if Grandmaster Sofos' 'fat-chan' school still operates, it has to be one of the most dangerous institutions in the world of martial arts. Looking back, I would honestly say that I had a minor encounter with a cult.

I left after about two months. The ridiculous cost of the lessons was enough to make anyone leave but the main reason was far funnier. Again, I kid you not, this is the truth: At the end of one of the lessons, just when I was wondering how to escape cleaning the entire fucking school - one of the great character building chores no doubt - somehow the topic got onto Bruce Lee and one of the students, actually he of the 'fat man's chi' claim, just went bananas, talking about how Bruce was this, how Bruce was that, a fake, a fraud etc...

That was it. I started to defend ol' Bruce and the guy could see that something had really got to me. As if sensing my frustration, he then started to almost plead with me to reconsider my thinking, how if I stayed on just a little longer I would gradually begin to see the light...

You see guys, I wasn't - and am not, even now - a HUGE Bruce fan. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy! But I'm not an absolute worshipper. I was just so sick and tired of these guys rubishing every other martial artist (literally) and again coming back to this mantra that Sid Sofos was THE ONLY enlightened Wing Chun/Kung Fu/martial artist ??? in general in the world!!! I mean for ****'s sake, there is a limit...

Again, to finish, I would honestly say that I have never come across any other school/individual like this. I've hardly looked at these forums and already I'm excited at the prospect of reading stories about some crap teacher in Idaho who teaches the 'ancient karate' - 'before the Japanese invented Okinawans', or some rubbish MMA bloke who routinely beats the crap out of his students because he is really just an absolute arsehole. All of this can be just piss-funny at worst. But this guy and his school are something ellse.
They are really fucked up.

Christ. It's been 10 years. I never thought it would come out this way. It's been like a dirty little secret all this time, ashamed of something that's not my fault.

But I'm here now, safe in this wonderful bullshit-free place.
Where Sofos and his dellusional acolytes can't get me.

if you fancy a laugh please go nad visit the guys site, make sure to read the in-depth profile (which is double long and will take time) there is a comedy goldmine in there.

appaently, he shoots fire from his swords in practice, could have stopped 9/11 and the UK dunblane massacre, protected roberto duran and lennox lewis, can project his chi through walls and "touch people's hearts remotely".

any london based UK bullshidoka available to go to this guys school? it sounds hilarious.

apparently if you miss a session they phone your house and you have to explain why!